John Mayer at Times Union Center (March 31, 2017)

(All photos by Bryan Lasky)

John Mayer (who we last saw last fall at Roots Picnic NYC) began his first solo tour since 2014 at Albany’s Times Union Center, the same place where he kicked off his induction into Dead and Company in 2015. Clearly he loves Upstate New York, as he spent the week in Albany practicing for the tour. The night saw him play with his full band, solo acoustic, the trio, and solo piano. He welcomed everyone to the tour with a big smile and said he couldn’t be happier to be back on the road with this band.

He opened up the show with a five song set with the full band including “Belief” and a few new songs off new album The Search for Everything (via Columbia Records). Following that was a three song acoustic set, including a cover of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’.” With that, a short video introduction, like there was for every section of the show, started for The John Mayer Trio and Pino Palladino, Steve Jordan, and Mayer, ripped into a three song set including a Jimi Hendrix Cover and a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Promised Land” dedicated to the late legend. After that the full band came back out to finish up the show before Mayer ended the show only at a piano for “You’re Gonna Live Forever For Me.”

Opening the night was the three piece juggernaut that is The Record Company. They wasted little time during their time going from song to song with little talk. They easily won the crowd over though with songs like “On the Move” and “Rita Mae Young”. If you are seeing any part of the first few dates of the tour get there early for them as you won’t be disappointed.

Find photos from both John Mayer and The Record Company’s performances posted below, along with Mayer’s setlist.

John Mayer Setlist:

[Full Band Set]
1. Belief (extended intro)
2. Helpless (live debut)
3. I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You)
4. Love on the Weekend
5. Moving On and Getting Over
[Acoustic Set:]
6. Daughters (with Steve Jordan)
7. In Your Atmosphere (Solo)
8. Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty Cover, with David Ryan Harris)
[John Mayer Trio Set:]
9. Who Did You Think I Was
10. Promised Land (Chuck Berry Cover)
11. Wait Until Tomorrow (The Jimi Hendrix Experience Cover)
[Full Band Set:]
12. Blues Run the Game (Jackson C. Frank Cover)
13. Queen of California
14. Edge of Desire
15. Dear Marie
16. Why Georgia
17. In Repair